This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Marlies fans noticeable by their absence

When the AHL playoffs began last month, you might have excused the Toronto Marlies if they'd hoped for a little more hubbub. As they took the ice for their first post-season game, after all, their NHL parent club, the Maple Leafs, was more than a week into its third annual early spring vacation.

When the AHL playoffs began last month, you might have excused the Toronto Marlies if they'd hoped for a little more hubbub. As they took the ice for their first post-season game, after all, their NHL parent club, the Maple Leafs, was more than a week into its third annual early spring vacation.

If a local fan wanted to satiate a thirst for live-action shinny, then the only choice in the city limits was a trip to Ricoh Coliseum. Alas, exactly 1,063 loyal souls made up the announced crowd for the Marlies' playoff-opening win. John Mitchell, the third-year Marlies centreman from Waterloo, shook his head and sighed at the reality of his team's obscurity.

"We have our booster club, the faithful fans who always come out, and we're thankful for that," Mitchell said. "But some nights you can almost count every face and know a lot of the people in the stands."

Perhaps they're beginning to attract some fresh faces, but heading into their semifinal series with the Chicago Wolves, which continues tomorrow at Chicago and descends on Toronto next Tuesday and Wednesday, the Marlies were ranked third-last among 16 teams in AHL playoff attendance.

Although Toronto has enjoyed the luxury of a league-high eight home dates, including two Game 7s, the Leafs' AHL affiliate has pulled in an average of only 2,724. The glass-half-full outlook is that Monday's Game 7 win over Syracuse, which capped an astounding comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the second-round series, drew a playoff-high 4,753. The glass-half-empty take is that the Ricoh Coliseum, seating capacity 8,140, was still only a little more than half-full.

Article Continued Below

"All I can say is, it's a good product on the ice and we're winning hockey games," said Greg Gilbert, the Marlies coach. "If this city is a real hockey town, there's no reason why (fans) wouldn't come out and show their support."

Perhaps the team's ongoing struggles at the gate underline a truism that's ever more difficult to deny. Though some have dubbed Toronto the planet's hockey capital – a title that, by measure of everything from Stanley Cups to NHL arena decibel level to outdoor rinks per capita, is a better fit on, say, Montreal – Torontonians don't often display a taste for the in-the-flesh game if it's not being played by the multi-millionaires on Bay St.

Indeed, the Marlies, despite being pushed by the marketing geniuses at Canada's largest sports and entertainment conglomerate – despite wearing look-alike Leafs jerseys and having a roster stocked with players who spent much of the season with the Leafs, including Andy Wozniewski and Jiri Tlusty – ranked 19th in regular-season attendance in the 29-team league, behind such noted hockey hotbeds as Houston and San Antonio.

While many of the league's most successful markets are bereft of NHL competition – top-three draws Hershey, Winnipeg and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton all averaged more than 7,600 paying customers during the regular season – Chicago and Philadelphia are home to relatively rabid AHL fan bases.

The Marlies bat around the reasons for their relative unpopularity. Maybe it's the Ricoh Coliseum's location, well off the subway line at Exhibition Place (although Toronto FC fans seem to have no problem finding BMO Field across the parking lot). Maybe it's the ticket prices, which, at $44 for the best post-season seats, don't scream minor league (although there are $16 playoff seats for the budget-minded). Maybe real hockey fans stay home to watch the NHL playoffs. Maybe this city's citizens are elitists. Everybody's got a theory.

"Today's lifestyle, everybody is so busy," theorized Gilbert. "Parents are running kids to the hockey rink seven days a week plus. It's tough for them to get out to a game."

Said Mitchell: "This is Leafs Nation, not Marlies Nation. Maybe once the Leafs are done, hockey's done here. Maybe there's not much we can do about it."

The Marlies, indeed, have provided the most compelling post-season drama in the city's recent history, even if only a few familiar faces can claim witness.

"It's strange to me. We've had two Game 7s, both at home, and the fan support just hasn't really been there," Wozniewski said. "It's kind of strange being in Toronto, the capital of the hockey world, with no other hockey going on in the city and still nobody's coming."

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com